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Andy Parsons

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For the darts player, see Andy Parsons (darts player).

Andy Parsons
Parsons at the Glastonbury Festival 2013
Birth nameAndrew John Parsons
Born (1966-11-30) 30 November 1966 (age 57)
Weymouth, England, UK
MediumStand-up
EducationChrist's College, Cambridge (BA)
Years active1992–present
GenresSatire
Notable works and rolesParsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections (2001–07)
Mock the Week (2005–2015)
Websitewww.andyparsons.co.uk

Andrew John Parsons (born 30 November 1966)[1] is an English comedian and writer. He regularly appeared on Mock the Week from Series 3 to Series 14. With comedy partner Henry Naylor, he wrote and presented nine series of Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections for BBC Radio 2.

Early life

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Parsons was born in Poole, Dorset; his father was a headmaster.[2][3][4] He attended Parc Eglos Primary School, Helston Comprehensive School in Cornwall and Churston Ferrers Grammar School, Torbay (Devon)[5][failed verification] before going to Christ's College, Cambridge to study Law,[6] where he met and formed a double act with Henry Naylor which twice toured with the National Student Theatre Company and once with the Footlights.[7] After completing his studies, Parsons got a job working as a legal clerk on a case at the Greenock shipyards, which he describes as "the most tedious thing I'd ever done."[7][8] With Naylor he established TBA, London's first sketch comedy club.[9]

Writing/television

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His first TV writing job was for Spitting Image and he went on to become one of the main writers. He has also appeared as a guest on They Think It's All Over, QI and BBC Radio 5 Live's Fighting Talk. Parsons left Mock the Week in October 2015 after nine series as a regular panelist, missing only five episodes. He, like the other regular panellists on Mock the Week, kept the same seat throughout the series, Parsons being the one on host Dara Ó Briain's left.

He has also presented The PMQ show on BBC Radio 5 Live and was a regular during the 2010 World Cup on the BBC Radio 2 show Never Write Off The Germans.

Parsons also appeared in World's Most Dangerous Roads alongside Ed Byrne, travelling along the Road of Bones in Siberia, visiting the coldest inhabited place on Earth and sleeping in a tent at -53 °C.

After writing for Week Ending, Parsons and Naylor were offered their own show Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections in 2001. They have also performed live versions of the show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (1993–2001) and at international comedy festivals in Sydney (1998/99), Melbourne and Adelaide (both 1998).

Stand-up comedy

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In Sept 2000 Parsons was making appearances at Up The Creek Comedy Club in Greenwich, often alongside Jimmy Carr. [10]

Parsons regularly performs solo shows at comedy festivals, and also at The Comedy Store. He is the Time Out Comedy Award Winner 2002.

In 2008, he co-wrote and starred in a BBC Radio 4 sitcom called The Lost Weblog of Scrooby Trevithick and a second series, Scrooby Trevithick, aired in 2010. He toured in the UK with his show Andy Parsons: Citizens! in 2009.[11] The show was recorded at the Lyric Theatre, London on 28 September 2009 and released on DVD in November that year under the title Britain's Got Idiots which was shown on BBC2 in October & December 2010.

In 2010, Parsons took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.[12]

His 2011 UK National Tour was called Gruntled.[4] and his 2013 tour was called I've Got A Shed. His third DVD Slacktivist was released on 25 November 2013 and was televised on BBC Two in December 2014.

His 2015 tour was entitled Live & Unleashed - But Naturally Cautious.[13] Also in 2015 Andy started the Slacktivist Action Group. Occurring monthly with MPs, journalists, experts and comedians.[14]

2017 brought the new tour Peak Bullsh*t.

His 2019 tour, called Healing The Nation, ran from September 2019 to March 2020, and then resumed after the Covid pandemic, with new material, in September 2021.

His 2023/2024 UK Tour is called Bafflingly Optimistic.

Activism

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Parsons backed the People's Vote, a campaign group that called for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union.[15][16]

Stand-up shows

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Year Title Notes
2009 Citizens!
2011 Gruntled
2013 I've Got a Shed
2015 Live and Unleashed - But Naturally Cautious
2017–18 Peak Bullsh*t
2019–22 Healing the Nation
2023–24 Bafflingly Optimistic

DVD releases

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Title Released Notes
Britain's Got Idiots Live 23 November 2009 Live at London's Lyric Theatre
Gruntled Live 2011 14 November 2011 Live at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire
Slacktivist Live 25 November 2013 Live at Harrogate's Theatre
Live and Unleashed but Naturally Cautious 27 November 2015 Live at Margate's Theatre Royal

References

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  1. ^ "Andy Parsons". Chortle. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  2. ^ Parsons, Andy (6 May 2015). "Andy Parsons on Peter Cook: the pure filth that inspired my career". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  3. ^ Venning, Nicola (8 October 2023). "Andy Parsons: 'I was sacked by a law firm for sneaking off to the BBC'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b "What's on: Andy Parsons' Gruntled". The Westmorland Gazette. 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  5. ^ "Andy Parsons reveals his West Country roots". North Devon Journal. 12 March 2009. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  6. ^ "Christ's College – Alumni". christs.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b "What's on leisure – Andy Parsons". Cambridge News. 12 April 2011. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Doubled up: Parsons and Naylor's comedy careers". Chortle. 6 July 2003. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
  9. ^ BBC. "Parsons And Naylor's Pull-Out Sections".
  10. ^ "Listings". News Shopper. 27 September 2000. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  11. ^ Solutions, Powder Blue Internet Business. "Parsons lands R4 show : News 2007 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ Chamberlain, Julia (31 March 2010). "C4 Comedy Gala at the O2, London". Chortle. Archived from the original on 3 April 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  13. ^ "- Andy Parsons". Andy Parsons.
  14. ^ "SLACKTIVIST ACTION GROUP". andyparsons.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  15. ^ Quinn, Ben (16 April 2018). "Brexit: MPs from four parties jointly launch push for people's vote campaign". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  16. ^ Coulter, Martin (15 April 2018). "Brexit: Patrick Stewart, Andy Parsons, Anna Soubry, Chuka Umunna and Layla Moran launch campaign for 'People's Voice' referendum on final EU deal". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
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